Navigate Collections

Share this page

Show Report

by Hywel Davies on 22 June 2011.

Jones brought his personal vision on reinterpreting classic preppiness, and appropriated it for the luxury Vuitton market.

Expectations were running high for Kim Jones, who has recently taken over from Paul Helbers as creative director at Louis Vuitton. Citing his direction for Vuitton as embracing the label’s raison d’être - its infamous travel history, craft and focus on refined luxury, Jones delivered a contemporary take on sportswear-oriented clothing for Spring.

Jones brought his personal vision on reinterpreting classic preppiness, and appropriated it for the luxury Vuitton market. The results were hugely handsome, confident and clear. In part seventies and sixties, Ivy League and preppy sportswear, Jones produced crisp college looks, ranger and safari clothes, massai checks, chunky knits and midnight blue dinner suits. For the luxury globe trotting clientele Jones offered jackets constructed from waxed alligator, and neckties sewn with 24-karat gold thread.

References to American and British menswear were mixed with Jones’s own childhood experiences in Botswana and Ethiopia that included sandals and plenty of shorts topped off with African inspired scarves. Polo shirts were emblazoned with the Louis Vuitton Cup yachting competition logo while military-inspired bags came in army green.

The collection celebrated the spirit of Louis Vuitton and Jones confidently delivered a new era for the brand. The tailoring skills that Jones honed at Dunhill were utilised at Vuitton, but it seems Jones’s clothes have found a braver new vision and freedom at Vuitton. – an impressive start.